


Ring of Fire

by ABSedarian



Series: Thirty Worlds (AU Challenge) [7]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AU Challenge, Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Challenge on Infinite Earths, F/F, but none of them are our leading ladies, fairy tale AU, tw: multiple character deaths
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-16
Updated: 2015-05-16
Packaged: 2018-03-30 19:54:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3949624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ABSedarian/pseuds/ABSedarian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Challenge on Infinite Earths / AU challenge</p><p>Day 7: Fairy Tale</p><p>Regina is willing to risk her life to prove Princess Emma is her true love, so she can finally meet her for the first time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ring of Fire

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Not my characters. And a major plot element was borrowed from the Ring Trilogy of Xena's S6)
> 
> A/N: If you watched Xena, you might recognize the Ring of Fire ...

“Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess named Emma,” the young man told the two small children cuddled up in the bed before him. “She was adventurous and independent and did many things princesses weren’t supposed to do, but she had a good heart and the people in the kingdom loved her.” 

The two girls giggled, maybe because they recognized themselves in the fairy tale princess. The man ran his hand through their fine hair, one head blonde, one dark brown. “When the princess became of age, she had many suitors, but she didn’t want any of them.” 

The two girls shook their heads wildly. 

“One of the suitors was a powerful wizard who wouldn’t take no for an answer and kidnapped the princess while she was out riding with a few of her friends. He took her to his evil lair to keep her for himself, hidden away from the world, but Princess Emma was determined to escape and …” 

“She did!” the girls yelled. 

“Yes, she did.” The man smiled. “Unfortunately, the wizard was a vengeful man and he went after the princess. When he caught her, she fought him hard, and when the wizard realized that she would rather die than be with him, he decided that if he couldn’t have her, then nobody ever would.” 

“What he do to de pwincess?” one girl asked, eyes wide. It didn’t matter that they had heard the story many, many times. This part always had them scared. 

“He cursed the princess into a deep sleep, then laid her to rest on a rock in the mountains,” the man continued in a low voice. “Then he surrounded the rock with a wall of eternal flames higher than a house and cursed the flames as well. Only Emma’s true love could ever cross the wall of flame and wake the princess, and he was sure she would never find one hidden behind her wall of fire.” 

“That was mean,” the other little girl said with a pout. 

“It was,” the young man agreed easily. “And so for many, many years people told the story of the princess behind the wall of fire, and many young men from all the kingdoms tried their luck and burned to death. But over the years fewer and fewer princes and knights tried until only the most courageous or the most foolish tried to brave the flames.” 

“That’s not good.” 

“No, that’s not good at all, and soon the story of the princess moved into the realm of legends, as a story to tell little children before bedtime. And one such child was determined to wake the sleeping princess because she had fallen in love with her while listening to her story.” 

“Did she make it, dada?” 

“What do you think?” their father asked with a small chuckle. “Let me tell you the rest.” 

o-o-o 

Regina pulled her pack tighter against her shoulders to distribute the weight better. She had to leave her horse at the foot of the mountain because the pass was too narrow and steep for the big animal. With a sigh she had whispered a few words into its ear and had sent it to wait for her in a safe spot. If she didn’t come back before the first snow, her horse knew to return home to her father’s stables. 

She let out a puff of air, suddenly feeling very much alone. Not only was she far away from home on a very uncertain adventure, but her horse had been her best friend for so many years that she missed it fiercely, and not only because its body usually provided some extra warmth. Regina pulled her cloak tighter around her upper shoulders and grimaced against the biting wind. She was really beginning to look forward to the wall of fire at the top of the mountain, if only to feel warm again. 

Around the next bend in the path she was surprised to see a fire burning inside the mouth of a small cave. As she drew nearer, unable to resist the draw of the warmth it promised, she saw that there seemed to be several men inside the cave or near the fire, either sitting or reclining on their bedrolls. Regina slowed her steps and approached the men carefully, ready to run quickly if she had to. Her fingertips tingled in response to the adrenaline she felt coursing through her body but magic was always the last resort. 

"Ah, a fellow traveler," one of the men yelled out. "The mountain is busy tonight ... but I certainly didn't expect such lovely company around my fire." She could see the smirk even under his scraggly beard. 

"My fire you mean, Hook," a second, scruffy-looking man commented dryly before addressing Regina. "You're welcome to join us, milady." He sent a smirk to Hook and they both grinned. "Before you head back down the mountain tomorrow." 

Regina stepped closer. "Why would I do that?" she asked. "Head back? I came this far, I won't turn around now." 

The first man, Hook, scoffed. "You're a woman, lass." 

"You don't think I've noticed that?" Regina raised an eyebrow at him as she dropped her pack by the fire. 

"Baelfire here is right," Hook said after taking a long draft from his pipe. "Each of us here is on a mission to free the Princess of the Flames from her fiery prison." 

"So am I." 

Baelfire laughed. "You must not have listened to the story right, girl," he mumbled. "This calls for her true love, her prince in shining armor." 

Regina looked at both men in turn with a doubtful look at their attire. "Shining armor, huh?" she remarked, her words drenched in sarcasm, but before she could add something else, a third men spoke up from the darkness of the cave. 

"Leave her be," the man said as he stepped out of the darkness and closer to the light of the fire. He was wearing a green tunic with a hood pulled down to his eyes. "The lass has as much right to burn herself in those flames as we do." He turned to Regina. "Be welcome at our fire, lady. We will share whatever food we have." 

"I volunteer to keep you warm as well, sweet lass," Hook added, ogling her body. 

Regina was taken aback. "I thought you were on a quest to free your true love from the flames," she asked. 

Hook guffawed. "You don't actually believe that nonsense, do you?" He chuckled and shook his head. "These fools believe it too but me and my men," he pointed deeper into the cave, "we're here for the glory. There has to be a trick to extinguishing the flames ... we just have to find it." 

Regina shrugged before relaxing a little and settling down by the fire across from Hook. If he believed that, she wouldn't even try to convince him otherwise. "And once you've rescued the princess? What then?" 

Hook relaxed on his bedroll. "Then my men and I will share the treasure that has to be hidden with the princess," he said casually. "Why else would someone create the flames? A woman alone is not worth that much trouble." 

Regina was excused from replying when the hooded man sat down to her right and handed her a bowl of steaming stew. "Ignore Hook and eat," he said. "The stew isn't much but it is worlds better than the pirate's ramblings of lost treasures." 

"Thank you, ..." Regina gave him a pointed look. 

"Robin," the man said with a smile. "Robin Hood." 

Regina had heard of him, of course. The famous thief who robbed the rich to give to the poor. "Fine company tonight," she said with teasing smile. "A thief, a pirate, and a ..." she looked at Baelfire. 

"Another thief, I’m afraid," Baelfire said with a shrug. "No need to fret though, lass ... you don't exactly look like you're carrying the sort of riches we're looking for." 

After that, conversation dwindled down to the occasional murmur about the weather and the unexpected cold this early in the year. Regina was quite happy with that since she had no plans to correct Baelfire's assumptions about her nor Hook's thought about some fabled treasure. She knew better, and she was ever more determined to be the one to rescue the princess. She smiled as she lay down inside her bedroll, dagger in hand, as she thought about the next day. She certainly wasn't going to try getting through the flames first. 

o-o-o 

Regina had seen fire in what she had thought to be all its forms, but the wall of flames they were faced with at the top of the mountain was different. She studied the wall of fire and was surprised to see it felt almost … sentient. The flames were _definitely_ feeling something, and also trying to feel them. They seemed almost happy to see them, but Regina couldn’t figure out if they were happy about new victims or about being finally freed from having to only fulfill this one purpose. 

The men naturally didn’t pause at all in the haste to get to what they thought was a treasure. They didn’t see the beauty in the flickering light that hid the princess from view. But, Regina saw without being surprised, of course they weren’t willing to risk their own skin first. 

“Smee,” Hook called over one of his men. “Go try it.” 

“But I’m not anybody’s true love,” Smee protested as he took several steps back down the mountain pass. 

“How many times do I have to tell you worthless lot that the whole true love thing is just a legend to make little girls sigh?” Hook snarled. 

Smee pointed at Regina. “She believes it.” 

Hook glared at her, but Regina only shrugged. “I do.” 

“So why don’t you go first?” 

“Because I’m not done watching the show,” Regina explained with a smirk, and promptly sat down on a dead log. Her eyes went back to the flames, searching out their intent, trying to communicate her good intentions. _I just want to be with the princess,_ she told the fire in her mind. _Just be with her, and I don’t even care if it’s in there with her. Just let me through so I can kiss her just once?_

She wondered if she imagined the flames sudden flickering at her thoughts, but she was interrupted by Hook, who was dragging another of his men close to the flames. Seemingly, Smee was more intelligent than she had given him credit for. 

“Your turn, Felix,” Hook said and pushed the young man into the fire. The flames let out an almost beastly yell as they instantly devoured the new fodder. It had gone hungry for far too many moons. Regina shivered at the deafening roar and the smell of burnt flesh. 

Hook stared at the point where Felix had been turned into a small pile of ash. “Huh,” he muttered. “I guess it won’t be as easy as that then.” He looked around, only to see the rest of the men drop their packs and run back where they’d come from, leaving only himself, Baelfire, and Robin. 

Robin looked between the fire, Hook, and Regina, then smiled. “Well, milady,” he finally addressed her. “I think I’m going to cut my losses right here. I’m not in the market for a fiery burial today.” He held out a hand to her. “Why don’t you come along with me and I’ll show you a good time in my forest home.” 

Regina snorted and shook her head. “Have a safe trip down,” she told him. “My destiny, whatever it may turn out to be, lies behind those flames.” 

Robin Hood shrugged with a grin and took his leave. Regina wished the pirate and the other thief would follow his example, but they were too busy staring at each other to even notice that he was leaving. 

“Why don’t you try it,” Baelfire goaded Hook. “You’re the one who doesn’t believe in the legend.” 

“And you do?” the pirate shot back. 

“Indeed I do,” the thief replied calmly. 

“Then be my guest,” Hook said, making a sweeping gesture towards the fire. “Prove it.” 

Regina watched with interest as Baelfire took a deep breath and straightened his shoulders. Then he took a careful step forwards, arms outstretched, ready to draw it back if the fire found him disagreeable. As soon as his hand got close to the flames, he realized he wasn’t what the fire had been looking for, and he quickly tried to withdraw his hand. The flames weren’t having it and reached out to grab his arm and pull. 

Regina pressed her hands against her ears to mute the inhuman cries the thief let out as the flames consumed him, and she was glad it was over quickly. 

She could hear Hook swallow from where she was sitting, and the look on his face was nothing like the brazen pirate he had been up to this moment. “I … I think,” he stuttered. “I guess I’m going to try my luck elsewhere.” He turned and ran, faster than Regina had thought possible. 

Finally alone. 

Regina opened her pack and pulled out an apple, bright red and juicy. Now that the distraction were gone, she was in no hurry. By the end of the day she would either be dead or united with her true love, and she wasn’t going to test the flames without tasting one of her apples first. They had always brought her happiness and maybe a bit of luck. 

She felt the fire watching her as she quietly sat and ate. It was licking out at her, beckoning her closer, its intent unreadable. She stood slowly, swallowing her last bite, then tossed the apple core into the fire on impulse. She couldn’t be sure, but it looked to her as if it went straight through the flames. 

Regina took steady steps towards the flame, her smile growing wider and wider with every inch she got closer and didn’t burn. In fact, she realized as she stood just outside the ring of fire, she couldn’t feel any heat coming from the flame at all. With one last thought for her father, she stepped into the eternal flame. 

And walked right through it. 

It only took her two more long steps to get to the rock on which the princess rested. Regina gasped at the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. Her long blonde hair was fanned out beneath her head, covering the slate of rock. Her alabaster skin had a golden hue from the flames that still burned around them. Regina smiled at the leather riding clothes the princess wore. She looked just like she had in her dreams. 

Regina reached out with one hand to touch Princess Emma’s cheek, which was warm and so very soft, and Regina imagined waking up every morning of her life next to this sleeping beauty. Drawn by the pink lips and the desire to see if Emma’s eyes were the same shade of bluish green she had seen in her dreams, Regina leaned in to kiss her princess. 

An avalanche of images from a life she couldn’t remember living yet flooded her mind. She could see herself and Emma, dancing together in a huge ballroom, out riding through the woods, enjoying early mornings cuddling in bed. Everything was exactly like it had been in her dreams, but it felt like so much more. Regina reared back. “How is this possible?” 

Emma slowly opened her eyes, the same eyes Regina would recognize anywhere in the world. “Regina.” Her voice showed both awe and lack of use. “You came for me.” 

“How do you know my name?” Regina asked, thoroughly confused. “How did you know I would come?” 

“I dreamed of you,” Emma whispered. “I’ve been waiting for you for a long, long time.” She reached out and cupped Regina’s face in her hands. “My love.” 

Regina couldn’t help but lean in and kiss those lips again. And again and again and again until they were both gasping for breath. “I dreamed of you too,” she finally muttered when they parted for a moment. “I’ve been dreaming of you all my life. I’m sorry it took me so long to get here.” 

Emma smiled brilliantly. “It’s fine,” she said soothingly. “I lived in our dreams until you were old enough to come find me. And now we can _live_ those dreams.” 

Regina answered with a smile of her own. “Did we truly share our dreams?” she wondered aloud. 

Emma didn’t reply, just leaned in and kissed her again. 

o-o-o 

“And they lived happily ever after,” the young man ended the story with a smile at his two daughters. 

“Ever after,” the blonde child echoed. 

“And that’s how grandma and granny met,” the brunette added to bring the story to its usual conclusion. 

“Indeed it was,” King Henry agreed. “Sleep now, my little princesses.” 

He blew out the candles on his way to the door, a smile on his face. 

**The End**

**Author's Note:**

> Next: Futuristic


End file.
